Australia

Player ratings: Outgunned

Sat, 06 Jul 2013 13:23

Put on the back foot from the word go

The Wallabies simply had no response for the power of the B&I Lions as they slumped to a 41-16 defeat in their series decider in Sydney.

The home side were put on the back foot from the word go, and although they rallied well to get within three points of the Lions early in the second half, they could not keep up and fell away badly in the final stages.

Theb Wallabies were destroyed at scrum-time, and found themselves playing largely off the back foot, although there were some convincing passages where they had the Lions under pressure.

We rate the Wallabies:

15 Kurtley Beale:
Looked lively and asked questions of the Lions defence by hitting a few gaps and getting some good offloads away. But his kicking game was not great and he battled to impose himself consistently.6/10

14 Israel Folau:
Looked a threat with the ball in hand, but lasted less than half an hour and had to go off with a hamstring injury.5/10

13 Adam Ashley-Cooper:
Took the line on but battled to penetrate as the Lions wrapped him up fairly easily. Did some hard work on defence but had few opportunities.5/10

12 Christian Leali'ifano:
Made some solid tackles early on, but faded in defence as the game wore on. His goal-kicking was impressive, but gave away a penalty on attack for sealing off and battled to get over the advantage line.6/10

11 Joe Tomane:
Looked for work, but made too many errors under pressure. He was penalised for holding on in the tackle, battled under the high ball and missed a vital tackle on Leigh Halfpenny.5/10

10 James O'Connor:
Made a few good runs and showed some great footwork to get over for his try just before half-time. But his kicking game let him down and he drifted off his man on defence too often.6/10

9 Will Genia:
Knocked the ball from the kick-off which led to the opening try, but made a couple of good breaks and worked the blindside well whilst his service was good as usual.7/10

8 Wycliff Palu:
Used his physicality to make some big hits, and carried the ball up strongly, but did not get around the park very quickly and went missing at times.5/10

7 George Smith:
Was targeted early on and had to leave the fial after a head-clash with Richard Hibbard, but came back and posed a threat at the breakdown, although he did not have as much of an impact as anticipated.6/10

6 Ben Mowen:
A hard-working performance which saw him in the Lions' faces and getting very close to the offside line. Showed his value as a line-out option and used his physicality well.6/10

5 James Horwill:
Tried his best to set the tone, and was strong in the tight phases, but did not have enough of an influence and was shut down quickly.6/10

4 Kane Douglas:
Did some good work in the line-outs and worked hard on defence, but battled to impose himself in a beaten pack.5/10

3 Ben Alexander:
Definitely a match to forget for the tighthead, he was constantly blown up at scrum-time, eventually resulting in a yellow card and was replaced immediately when his time in the bin was over.2/10

2 Stephen Moore:
Worked hard throughout, and made ground when he got the chance. He put some pressure on the Lions at the breakdown but did not have the platform to impose himself consistently.7/10

1 Benn Robinson:
Got scrummed into the ground by Adam Jones and also made some crucial errors in open play - missing a tackle on Alex Corbesiero as he scored in the opening minutes and also knocked the ball on short of the line.3/10

Replacements:

16 Saia Fainga'a(On for Moore, 72 mins):
Not enough time to be rated

17 James Slipper(On for Robinson, 66 mins):
Did his best in a beaten scrum, but was on the back foot for most of his time on the pitch.5/10

18 Sekope Kepu(On for Alexander, 35 mins):
Worked hard and got stuck in at close quarters, but was also bullied in the scrums by Corbisiero.5/10

19 Rob Simmons(On for Douglas, 62 mins):
Showed his value in the line-outs, but did not get many opportunities on attack.6/10

20 Ben McCalman (On for Palu, 60 mins):
Battled to impose himself behind a pack that was going forward and did not really get a chance to take the defence on.6/10

21 Michael Hooper(On for Smith, 66 mins):
Provided his usual energy and posed a threat at the breakdown.6/10

22 Nick Phipps(On for Genia, 70 mins):
Not enough time to be rated

23 Jesse Mogg(On for Folau, 27 mins):
Made a big impression on his debut, making a few scorching runs and proving that he is a great tactical kicker.7/10